Sales-check holder and punch



c. A. ERICKSON.- SALES CHECK HOLDER AND PUNCH. APPLICATION FILED ocr.I4, 1921.' 1,419,621.

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f vention- CHARLES A. ERICKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SALES-CHECK HOLDER AND PUNCH,

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Application led October 14, 1921. Serial IiTo. 507,776.

To all fw zolm, t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES A. ERICKSON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the )county ofCook and State of Illinois, haveV invented certain new and usefulImprovements in a Sales-Check Holder and Punch, of which the followingis a speciication. l

My present invention relates to improvement-s in a handy 'and novelholder and punching or notching device for sales checks, such as areused in restaurants, at soda fountains, in ice cream shops and otherplaces, for indicating or checking the4 price of meals, drinks and otherpurchases,` as well as the number of waiter or salesman.

The principal object of the invention is to combine in a unitary,compact and handy form, for pocket and manual use, a holder for suchchecks, a punching or notching device to indicate on such checks theamount to be paid to the cashier, and a container for the clippingsproducedv by notching or punching the checks, so that the same will notfall on and litter-the floor.

Another object is the provision'of a device of the above named generalcharacter, which shall be of such construction that it vcan vbe held in,and 'the punch manipulated by, either hand of fthe user, and .so thatthe checks can be detached one at a time from the book or pad thereofheld by'the device, and conveniently placedV in position for beingpunched or marked.

Still another object is to simplify the construction, to lessen the costof manufacture of devices for the purpose set forth, and to providepositive means for holding the blocks or pads of checks in position onthe devices.

Other objects and advantages of the. inventionwill become obvious fromthe'following description and explanation.

In the accompanying drawing, which serves to illustrate an embodiment ofthe in-v Fig. 1 is a planview of thel device showing a block of saleschecks held thereby ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a central` longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2-2 ofFig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking int-o the socket or check holdingcompartment of the device.

Like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout theVdifferent views of the drawing.

The body of the device is designated as a whole by the reference numeral5, and consists of an elongated support or floor 6 having at each of itsside edges an upturned flange 7 orside piece, which are widened towardstheir rear ends as is clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The bodyof the device is by preference made of a single piecev of sheet metaland has'one of its sides 7 bent 'at its rear end to lie transverselyacross the device as shown at 8 in Fig. 1 of the drawing. This rear endpiece 8 is provided at about its 4middle with a vertically disposedangul'a'rguide-way 9 which presents its apex rearwardly and has at asuitable distance'qfrom itslower end a forwardly extended opening 10 theedges of which are inwardly beveled or converged as shown. The oppositeflange or side 7 of the body of the device is provided at its rear endwith a transversely disposed lpart l1 which is located forwardly of thetransverse portion 8 ofthe other side member, and fastened thereto bymeans of rivets 12 or otherwise. The 'portion'11 has a cut-away portionor opening 13 extended from its middle to the floor or support 6'for thepassage of clippings punched from the checks as will be presentlyexplained. The upper edge of the transverse portion 11 is of a width tofit snugly between'the sides 7 when bent forwardly as shown in Figs. 1and 2, thus forming the top or overhanging portion 14 of the casing orsocket 15, the flanges forming the sides of saidcasing. or socket andthe transverse portions 8 and11'the rear end thereof, while the floorY 6comprises the bottom of the said casing.

The front end of the top 141 is bent downwardly 'to providea toothedflange 16 ernployed for the purpose of engaging the stub 17 of a blockof sales checks 18 of the type usually employed in restaurants, and likeplaces. The front portion of the top 14: has punched out and extendeddownwardly a tongue 19 which, together' with a tongue 20 punched out ofthe floor 6 and extended upwardly, form stops against which the rear endof the stub of the bloclr of checks will rest. Besides, the tongue 2Owill form a closure for the front end of a box-like receptacle for theclippings or punchings .from the checks when the stub of the same 1sremoved from the forward or open end of the casing 15 or sockettherefor.

Each of the sides 7 is provided at its upper edge just rearwardly of thefront edge of the top 14, with a lip 21 which are bentV over to lieflatly on the top 14; so as to prevent its displacement outwardly. Thefloor 6 of the body has 'punched therefrom a longitudinally extended armor bar 22 ywhich is provided near its free end with teeth 23 forengagement with the lower surface of the block of checks. Thus it willbe seen and understood that, although the body 5 comprises severalmembers, they are all made of one piece, and can be fashioned into thestructure shown in Fig. 2 and above described, without the employment ofrivets except those indicated by thenumerals 12 for securing ,thetransverse .portions 8 and 11 together.

Located in the slot 24C vin the floor of the body formed by punching outthe varm 22, is an operating lever 25 for said arm, which is mounted ona pivot 26 transversely disposed with respect to the body and journaledin the sides 7 thereof at or near the front end of the soclret 15. Thislever is provided at its rear end with a projection 27 to contact withthe lower surface of the arm 22 so that by turning the lever 25 to theposition shown in Fig. 2 the teeth 23 of the arm 22 will be caused toengage the lower surface of the block of checks, when said teeth areemployed, and cause the upper part of the block or its stub tobeuengaged by the toothed flange 16 in such a way that the block will bermly held in position between the sides 7 of the frame yet in such amanner that the uppermost check may be torn off along the l front lineof the iiange 16.

Mounted inthe guide 9 for vertical movement therein is a punch-orplunger 28 which is of the same shape in cross-section as the guide 9and has its lower edges inwardly or forwardly beveled as at 29, toco-act with the edges of the opening 1() in said guide to cut-awayportions of the checks, which portions will fall into the receptaclebelow and forwardly of theJ opening 10 and there be confined until it isdesired to empty the receptacle therefor, which can be done by releasingthe stub 17 and removing the same, when it is apparent that theclippings can be emptied through the space between the members 19 and20, which as before stated,

' form stops for the rear end of the stub of the block.

The upper end ofthe plunger 28 is proacts to retract the plunger 28 toits norma-l .position as shown in Fig. 2, after it has been presseddownwardly and in the operation of.

notching the check.

After one of the checks has been detached from the block thereof, it ismanifest ythat the saidcheck can be placed cross-wise of,

the rear end of the body with one of its edges in the opening 10 of theguide thereon so that the numerals indicating the price to be paid tothe cashier may be cut out by depressing the plunger.

It will be observed in Fig. 2 of the drawing that the operating lever 25is of the bellcrank type, and that when positioned as shown in saidfigure, the arm 22 will be posi-y tively prevented downward movement ormovement in a direction opposite the'top 'of the easing. When it isdesired to remove the stub of the block of checks, this can be done byreversing the position of the operating lever 25 which will permit thearm 22 to be moved downwardly or outwardly and thus release the said stuHaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is-. 1. A device of the class described,consisting of an elongated body having at one of its ends an overlyingpart and provided with a longitudinal arm movable at one of its endsunder said overlying part, and means carried by the body and co-actingwith said arm to move the same toward said part and to lock it againstmovement in the opposite direction. Y

2. A device of the class described, consisting of an elongated bodyhaving at one of its ends an overlying part and provided with alongitudinal arm movable at one of its ends under said overlying aart,and a lever longitudinally disposed under said arm and it towards saidpart and for locking it Ythumb-rest 30 isa coiled spring 23 whichagainst movement in the opposite direction.

3. ln a device of the class described, the combination with an elongatedbody having one of its ends formed into a rectangular casing having itsfront end open to provide a socket, of stop members within said casingrearwardly of its front end, the floor ofl said body having an armextended longitudinally therewith and movable at one of its ends underthe top of said casing, and a bellfcrankf lever fulcrumed on the bodywith its arms adapted to engage said movable arm ron each side of thefuleruln of said lever for posia bell-orenk-lever ulerurned on the bodytively holding said arm in a given position. with its arms adapted toengage said mov- 4c. The Combination with an elongted able arm on eachside of the ulcrum of said 10 channeled body having an overlying part atlever for positively holding Said arm in a 5 one of its ends7 of an armextended longtugiven position.

dinally with said body and having one of its ends movable under seidoverlying part, and CHARLES A. ERICKSON.

